]]>Last week we went strawberry picking at a local organic fruit farm not far from our house. My parents watched Joshua while the rest of us ventured to the farm. The last time we went strawberry picking I was 8 months pregnant with Joshua and had a 5 and 2 year old in tow. Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect this time around with a 7 and 4 year old.

My expectations were easily surpassed. Matthew and Luke were such hearty workers. They were excited to find ripe strawberries and fill their buckets full. They even outpicked Allan, who spent quite a bit of time taste testing. When all of our baskets were filled, the boys were not ready to go home. So, we filled an extra basket full to surprise Grandma and Grandpa when we picked up Joshua.

The oldest boys were able to each pick a pint of strawberries of their very own to make anything that they wanted. Matthew chose to make mini pies filled with blended strawberries and cinnamon.

Luke cut up 4 cups of strawberries on his own to make Strawberry Shortcakes for our family.

Over the weekend I canned 11 half-pints of Honey Sweetened Strawberry Vanilla Jam (I only added 1 1/2 cups of a lovely local raw honey, which added plenty of sweetness). If you follow me on Instagram, you caught the step by step process in my stories. This was my first time canning since I was very young and canned with Mom and Grandma. It was exhilarating and I can’t wait to do it again soon!

On Friday I cobbled together several pieces of inspiration into a killer Strawberry Vanilla Pie recipe that I am excited to share with you today.

The raw walnut and date crust is divine and does not need to be baked, although, I did brown it up a bit in the oven for a few minutes. The rest of the magic happens on the stovetop in one pot, making this an extremely easy recipe to whip together. Also, the pie freezes and thaws flawlessly, so go ahead and double (or triple the recipe like I did) and freeze a pie wrapped in plastic wrap and foil. Your future self will thank you come January when the overpriced organic strawberries at Costco taste more like dirt than a bite of summer.

Strawberry Vanilla Pie on a Raw Walnut Crust

by Maria Peters

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Ingredients (1 pie)

Raw Walnut Crust

2 cups walnuts

2 cups dates, pitted

1 tsp vanilla extract

Pinch of sea salt

Strawberry Vanilla Pie Filling

2 lbs strawberries, divided

1 tbsp – 1/2 cup raw honey

1 vanilla bean

1 tsp lemon juice

pinch sea salt

1/2 cup water, divided

1 tbsp grass-fed gelatin

Instructions

Raw Walnut Crust

Place walnut in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until it turns into a fine powder. Be careful not to process too long or you will have walnut butter. You want the walnuts to have a slight texture to them.

Add the dates, vanilla and sea salt. Process until the mixture resembles dough.

Press the crust into your pie plate. Set aside or see Notes for a crispier crust.

Strawberry Vanilla Pie Filling

Place 2 tbsp of water in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over the top. Set aside to bloom for at least 5 minutes.

Wash and hull the strawberries.

Slice 1 lb of the strawberries and set aside.

Place the 1 lb of unsliced strawberries into a medium saucepan with the remaining 6 tbsp of water, lemon juice, honey and sea salt. (See note about honey.)

Cut and scrape the contents of the vanilla bean into the saucepan with the strawberries. Throw in the vanilla bean pod, it will add amazing flavor and help to remove the rest of the vanilla beans that inevitably stick to the pod. Don’t worry, you will fish it out later when the filling is finished.

Bring the filling to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer until the berries begin to break down a bit.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and gently smash the berries with a fork or potato masher, be very careful not to burn yourself. I used an immersion blender for this step.

Remove the vanilla bean pod.

Add the bloomed gelatin to the saucepan and stir to combine. The gelatin should melt into the hot strawberry syrup and be completely combined.

Place half of the sliced strawberries into the crust. Pour half of the strawberry syrup over the top.

Layer the remaining sliced strawberries into the crust and pour in the remaining syrup. Making sure that you gently cover each strawberry.

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until the pie is cooled and completely set.

Notes

If your dates are a bit dried out soak them in warm water for 15 minutes prior, drain them and continue making the crust.

If you plan to make multiple crusts, I find that my food processor can only handle 2 bursts at a time. Anymore and it gives up on processing and overworks itself.

If you would like a crispier crust place it a preheated 350* oven for 8-10 minutes to brown. Watch it closely so that it doesn’t burn.

The quality of the honey used in this recipe does matter tremendously, as it will impact the flavor of your pie. Make sure that you like the taste of your honey straight up before using it here. I only used 1 tbsp of honey, which made a tart pie. Although, combined with the very sweet raw crust, the tartness works well. I used freshly picked, local strawberries that were very sweet on their own. If you are using off-season, frozen or store bought strawberries I would definitely recommend using more honey.

This pie can be frozen for several months wrapped in two layers of plastic wrap and two layers of foil. Make sure that you write what it is on the foil so that you don’t end up with a mystery pie in your freezer.

How are you today? I’m a bit tired from a busy weekend. On Friday night and Saturday morning I attended the MN Catholic Home Educators Conference at the University of St. Thomas. It was such a nice event and I’m so happy that I decided to go, even though we aren’t Catholic.

Sarah Mackenzie was the keynote speaker and she was just as wonderful in person as she is her blog and podcast. I was so moved by what she had to say that I bit the bullet and signed up for a year long membership to the Read Aloud Revival Community. I feel like the forum will be motivating and give me some accountability. Come and connect with me there!

On Saturday night we went to ARTCRANK, where Allan was an artist. We had a fun time catching up with a lot of old friends and looking at bike posters. Check out Allan’sinstagram feed for more pictures.

On Sunday we went out for breakfast at French Meadow and headed to our CSA Farm for their Spring member event. Farmer Pete even let the boys and I pick some asparagus to take home. Luke found this GIANT asparagus and held it the entire way home. Deliveries start the week after next and there are a few shares still available. We can’t wait!

A couple weeks ago I posted the following picture to Instagram and had so many requests for the recipe that I couldn’t hold back sharing. This burger recipe is very dear to our family’s taste buds that we have it at least once per week during the summer. It’s so good that I regularly make it in my cast iron griddle in the winter.

I use a small food processor to finely dice my onion, but it can easily be done by hand. Just be sure that the onion is very finely diced, as the burgers won’t hold together as well if there are large chunks.

Combine all of the ingredients except the ground meat in a large bowl. Mix to combine and let sit for 1-2 minutes for the flax to absorb the liquid.

Add the ground meat and mix with your hands.

Form into 8 patties. Grill, pan fry or oven roast until done to your likeness.

Top with pickles, ketchup, mayo, bacon, avocado, pineapple – the sky is the limit.

Sometimes I substitute teriyaki sauce for the coconut aminos and top the burgers with pineapple and avocado because it reminds us of an amazing burger we had in Hawaii.

Another variation is to substitute BBQ sauce for the coconut aminos and top with a slice of pineapple.

Since we finished our official school year a few weeks ago and all of our activities have taken a spring break of sorts, we have been enjoying some much needed time outside. In addition, work has intentionally been a bit slower in the last few weeks. We have been enjoying a less rushed pace of life. Here are a few of the things we have been up to.

Allan and I have decided that Thursday mornings this summer will be dedicated to getting outside and exercising with the boys. Joshua and I take long walks while he naps and Allan has been hopping on his bike with the Burley filled with older boys to explore our beautiful city. We ordered this bike trailer for Matthew to ride behind my bike so that the whole family can eventually ride together. We considered a regular tag along, but felt that this would be more comfortable for longer rides and long term as we will have several other small children making use of it. Plus it was on sale!

It’s so peaceful strolling along the trails with a little one sleeping in the stroller. Today we walked to the library to return a few overdue books and pick up a huge haul of picture books for the boys and a few (too many) books for me.

Our caterpillars officially pupated and we released them last week. It was such a fun experience and we will definitely be doing it again next year. Matthew found a brand new Ladybug kit at a garage sale a few weeks ago, so we may try our hand at that next.

My North Face rain jacket lining is disintegrating! Has anyone else had this happen to them? When I bought this jacket 5 years ago I vowed it would be the last spring/rain jacket that I would have to buy and apparently that’s not the case. I plan on sending it in to their warranty department to (hopefully) get it fixed!

This little guy is growing by leaps and bounds and (knock on wood) started sleeping through the night reliably this week! Two things that really helped with his sleep were reading this book on sleep (although, we only implemented a night time routine, not the actual sleep training, because Joshua was teething at the time) and this white noise machine. I have committed to dragging myself upstairs by 9:30 PM every night so I can read, get a good night’s sleep and workout before breakfast.

Allan and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary on May 19th. He planned a fun trip down memory lane for the two of us – it was SO nice! We visited the spot by the Mississippi River where he proposed, ate outside on the patio at French Meadow in St. Paul and visited the site of our wedding reception along the St. Croix River.

When we arrived at the parking lot of the supper club that held our reception we were greeted by a huge hole in the ground. Only the foundation of the basement remained. Honestly, we weren’t sure what to expect when we arrived because rumors had swirled that a developer bought the property and intended to build condos. The last time we were in town the building was still intact and host to a basement tiki bar complete with real sand on the floor.

Allan and I precariously climbed down into the hole to take a look at the river below and part of the dance floor tiles were still there. Allan popped on the song from our first dance, Fools Rush In by Elvis. and we slow danced right then and there. It was like something straight out of a movie.

I am so excited to start the She Reads Truth Acts study next week. I have enjoyed this week’s countdown to Acts study leading up to the main study that starts next week. With Joshua sleeping longer I have actually been able to spend time in the word every morning. I love having my routing back! What have you been studying lately?

Wowza! Costco has had SO MUCH ORGANIC food lately. With the sheer volume of vegetables and fruit we consume, our budget has been happy that we can buy many of the things we eat regularly in bulk! Also, our cart looks so much different than most people’s carts at Costco. Lots of meat, veggies and fruit.

I have been loving the necklaces that I bought from The Jones Market. I would love to order a few more, as I find myself wearing them even when I don’t have Joshua with me. They are just so flattering!

And that’s it for now. I will be sharing recipes for a versatile Summer fruit salad and my secret burger recipe that got a lot of attention a week ago. Look for those in the coming week.

Any local friends attending the MN Catholic Home Educators Conference? No, we are not catholic, BUT Sarah Mackenzie is the keynote speaker and I am beyond excited to see her speak. She has really opened my eyes to the world and wonders of homeschooling and I am forever grateful for her influence in my life and that of our boys.

]]>It has been months since I have posted an update. Thank you so much to those of you who still check in here, stopping by to grab a recipe and thinking of me and my family. Your support is felt and very much appreciated. I have stopped and started writing over the years because I haven’t been prioritizing myself and my gifting. I do believe this practice of fasting is good and faithful in certain seasons of life; however, I’ve become accustomed to putting the needs of my family and others before the needs of my spirit.

In light of that and what we learned while traveling to the gulf coast to work and play this winter, we have decided to cut down on the activities we participate in. It’s not that we were over scheduled before, because we were not. We simply found that we operate best when we have less going on and more time to explore, be at home and be spontaneous.

Also, if you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you may have noticed posts in the last few months about my healing journey. I’m not going to get into all of the details today, as everything is still in process as I try to figure out practitioners, a protocol and healing plan. However, I will post more details soon about what has been going on with my health. It’s been a long road and some days I feel wonderful, while others are very challenging.

I was born to tell stories. To write. To share. To help. And I believe that calling extends beyond the walls of my home and into the lives of those around me. So, I hope to begin to cultivate my spirit and use the gifts that God has given me to bless others here in this space.

Homeschooling went really well this year. As a family we finished Sonlight’s P4/5 curriculum a few weeks ago, which we used for Matthew’s kindergarten year. Both Matthew and Luke really enjoyed every story, activity and project we completed this year. My boys love to be read to and some days we would finish a week’s worth of reading in one session cuddled up on the couch. I have such fond memories of doing “Mommy School” with them and look forward to studying Ancient Times and Human Anatomy with them next year.

For the summer we will be focusing on a couple nature unit studies in May, June and July. In August we are planning a family trip to the North Shore area of Minnesota and will be reading several books about the Great Lakes. This is very unstructured, read aloud time with books that we own along with some from the library. I am completely ok if we don’t get to everything we have on the list this Summer.

Right now we have two containers of caterpillars pupating. The boys and I have been reading all of the books we can find about caterpillars and butterflies. Last week we went with my mom to see the film Flight of the Butterflies and we all loved it. I learned so much about butterflies and the story behind the discovery of Monarch migration.

Joshua is doing really well. He is an active, goofy, happy nine month old who spends most of his time chasing after his big brothers. He loves all food and always wants to try more of whatever everyone else is eating. Most days he sleeps well and loves to snuggle with Daddy before nap and bedtime. He has six teeth and is cutting two more right now. We couldn’t imagine our life without him.

This past December Allan decided to leave his corporate job at Target at the InHouse advertising and design department to officially start our own branding and design agency, Peters Design Company. This is a dream we have had since we met 13 years ago and to see it realized has been mind blowing. God’s faithfulness, discipline and wisdom is even more apparent in our lives as we look back on how he has prepared us for this challenge.

The business has been keeping both Allan and I very busy. We specialize in branding and identity work and have had a few opportunities to collaborate, which has been a lot of fun! After working out a few kinks, we have found a way to work well together. It truly is a blessing to see Allan in his element day in and day out, while also helping with the boys as I need it. We are so happy to have him home with us everyday.

I would love to hear from you. Please comment below, on Instagram or Facebook and let me know what is new in your life. Also, I would love to hear about your questions or topics I may have touched on in this post that you would like to hear more about.

]]>I have been part of a women’s weekly bible study for the last two years and loved it. I loved getting to know several women who were in the same place in life as I was. We grew, connected and saw each other through life’s ups and downs. Sadly, this summer was our last summer together for this season of our life. Our two wonderful group leaders were lead to pursue other ventures in this season of their lives and the rest of us were committed to other things and so, for now, we are not meeting.

A couple weeks ago we attended a beautiful wedding among the country and hills of Wisconsin. There I reconnected with an old friend. While catching up she mentioned that in a couple weeks she was starting a bible study. My heart jumped in my chest and I asked if I could join. It felt like spirit-lead timing.

Last night we met for the first time. We are studying Strengthen Yourself in The Lord by Bill Johnson. Before this I had not heard of Bill Johnson, but after watching him speak last night, I’m excited to read and see more of his teaching. In preparation for this study, which is based on the trials and promotion of David, I have been reading 1 Samuel. Over the years I have become familiar with David’s life, but reading it all at once has been impactful. I’m excited to see the connections that Bill makes in this study and how I can better follow the Lord by examining David’s life.

After the initial excitement about finding a new small group wore off, I began to feel uncomfortable about the new experience. I’m a very outgoing person, but when faced with new situations and people I tend to withdraw. I feel self-conscious and awkward. I tend to listen and not speak much at first, as I absorb the tendencies and personalities of those around me. Feeling everyone out and finding my place in the group. Especially because I tend to be an outspoken, passionate leader; however, I never want to take over or seem overbearing when someone else has been placed in a role of leadership.

I felt myself silently engaging last night and was having a hard time coming up with anything significant to say, even though I have a lot of deep feelings about the topic of promotion and David’s life. I’m 32 years old and it still amazes me when this happens. But I gave myself grace and let myself sit on the couch nursing Joshua and listening intently to the other women speak. Not interrupting and simply observing. I spoke when I had something to say or when asked a question, but just gave myself the time to acclimate, even if it made me seem recluse to the other women. It’s just how I am and I’m ok with it.

Do you have personality traits that make you uncomfortable? How do you deal with these emotions when they come up?

]]>I just wanted to pop in and say a HUGE Congratulations to my sister, Melissa, who competed in her first bodybuilding competition yesterday. She came in First place in Novice Class E and Second place in Open Class E. We are so very proud of the hard work and determination that she has shown over the last 6 months as she has diligently prepared for this day.

It is only by the grace of God that she has had the strength to get through the grueling workouts and intense diets. It has been an honor to see her grow spiritually over the last year and are so proud of the woman that is shining through.

]]>On Thursday Allan told me that he was thinking about not drinking coffee anymore. He told me that he felt that it was keeping him from drinking enough water. He then asked me to join him and I told him to, “have fun with that”.

With a new baby in the house and all of my other responsibilities (homeschooling, MOPS, book club, etc) I have really needed coffee each morning. Who am I kidding? It’s not just the morning that I need coffee. I reach for it almost every afternoon. Basically all day long. But it’s not because I’m drinking excessive amounts of caffeine. On any given day I only have 2 cups of half-caff coffee, but I forget them my cup all over the house and sip on it all day long.

The thought of giving it up in favor of Allan drinking more water seemed kind of silly.

But then I got to thinking about it and coffee has become a mandatory in my life, which I’m not too fond of. If you haven’t already gathered, I’m not a big fan of relying on or answering to things in my life besides God. So, if coffee has become a pseudo idol, then I should probably think about fixing my relationship with it.

On Friday morning as the boys and I were getting ready for the day I grabbed out a roasted dandelion root tea bag and a cinnamon stick instead of putting on coffee. I let it steep while I made bacon and frothed some homemade almond milk. And you know what? I didn’t miss the coffee one bit. I actually really liked the taste of the tea and it completely satisfied me.

So, maybe I don’t really need my morning coffee the way that I thought I did.

When Allan got home later that day I asked if he had any coffee at his men’s group at church and he said that he forgot about quitting coffee and had drank a couple cups. Instead of feeling deprived or frustrated, I felt ambivalent. Which is progress for this once die-hard coffee drinker. Maybe this grace thing really is starting to work…

]]>I am writing one handed while holding Joshua and rocking him to sleep, so this will not be a very wordy post.

One of the things that we loved about our house when we first looked at it were the abundance of trees. Two of which are apple trees – one red and another green. This year only the green apple tree bore fruit. Over the last few weeks we have been busy picking, eating and cooking the apples.

Both of our parents have apple trees, as well, so we have no shortage of good cooking apples. One of my favorite ways to use up a bunch of apples is to make crockpot applesauce. It’s so simple that a recipe really isn’t needed, but in general I follow a really similar method to this recipe from Oh She Glows, but I use cinnamon sticks instead of ground cinnamon and remove them before blending in the VitaMix. Also, sometimes I make this recipe at night and set the crockpot to cook for 8 hours on low. I don’t always cook the applesauce after blending, as my boys like applesauce that is a bit thinner and light in color.

What is your favorite way to use apples? I’ve been thinking about dehydrating some of the apples we have from my parent’s house along with freezing peeled and sliced apples so we can enjoy apple crisp year round.

But if I don’t get to it, that’s ok. I’m trying not to feel guilty or stressed when I don’t have the time or energy to do the things that I want to do. Sometimes even when I have the best of intentions there are simply other things on my plate that are much more important. And I’m ok with that.

If you are looking for ways to use up an abundance of apples here are a few more delicious apple recipes that you might enjoy:

]]>I wanted to say thank you for all of your kind words on yesterday’s post. We really appreciate your thoughts and prayers. Joshua is doing really well and our new protocol seems to be working, as his rash is getting much better every day and he is getting to be much more regular.

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Fall is my favorite season and lately we have had the most glorious fall weather in Minnesota. Cool and crisp mornings, afternoons filled with sun and light breezes and highs in the mid to high 60’s. Perfect if I do say so myself.

Last week, Allan and I decided to pack up our three nap-ditching boys and take them on a nature walk at Lebanon Hills park. We usually do not leave the house in the afternoons because it simply makes dinner time that much more difficult, but I happened to have a big stack of beef shanks from the grass-fed cow we bought this Spring cooking in the crockpot, so one piece of dinner was already under control.

After our walk, Allan sliced up several heads of cabbage and roasted them in coconut oil and sea salt and reheated leftover cubed butternut squash in our cast iron skillet. This was a wonderful meal that both boys devoured topped with Tessemae’s barbecue sauce.

I used the leftover shank bones to make bone broth and a few days later I made a wonderful beef and vegetable soup using the leftover shank meat, veggies we had hanging out in the fridge and bone broth.

Before buying meat from local farmers I had not made or eaten shanks. I have found that slow cooking is a great method to soften up and enjoy this oftentimes chewy piece of meat. I really liked this recipe from Diane Sanfilippo because it was easy to pull together in the morning and resulted in extremely versatile, soft meat.

What is your favorite crockpot meal?

What is your favorite way to cook liver? That is one piece of meat that I have yet to experiment with…

]]>This is something that I have been avoiding posting about because I feel so defeated. It’s as though if I don’t write about it then it isn’t happening. Which is completely untrue, because I’m feeling all the feels, but just keeping them locked up inside.

I have a small part of my soul that never fully healed from what we went through with Luke when he was a baby and the rash that Joshua developed a few weeks ago was like ripping off the scab of that wound and bleeding out all over again. Only the feelings have intensified from being locked away for so long. As though the pressure has built and now if I let them out, I’m afraid they will never stop.

When Luke was sick, the horror of seeing my baby in so much pain and the intensity of lugging around a 2 year old and very fussy newborn to various appointments made my heart scream. I felt lost and alone. After receiving a diagnosis and cutting out various foods (gluten, most grains, dairy of all kinds, all sugar and chocolate), I felt overwhelmed.

Many of the convenient and easy, yet healthy, foods that I was leaning on as a new mom were out and I had to find a new way of eating. I was urged to focus on meat, healthy fats and vegetables. But vegetables took a lot of prep time and with a baby who wanted to be held 24 hours a day and only slept for 40 minutes at a time, if I was lucky, the last thing I wanted to do with my 10-20 minutes of free time* was to cut and cook vegetables. On the weekends I would try to prep a huge batch of meat and vegetables while Allan held Luke, but most days I tried to food prep while wearing him in the Ergo, which was no easy feat considering he was a big baby – 9 lbs, 8 oz when born and he gained a ton of weight those first few months, most likely because we were nursing constantly!

*It usually took me 20-30 minutes to settle him down for naps (nursing and rocking) and then I was eventually able to set him down or roll away off of our bed (after MANY failed attempts). I was typically left with 10-20 minutes of time before he woke again, still tired, but upset because he itched so badly. And the cycle would start again.

The week prior to Joshua developing a rash, I started having symptoms of mastitis and thrush, which Luke and I both had the week prior to him getting sick. I immediately tightened up my diet (no sugar and no grains at all), went on probiotics and intentionally rested. Then when Joshua’s face broke out and he stopped having regular bowel movements, after attending a friend’s wedding where I was served dairy (even after asking multiple times if the meal was “safe”), I was crushed. The anxiety rushed over me with an intensity that I have never experienced before. I was not a pleasant person to be around.

I felt as though all of the hard work I had put in to avoiding dairy and gluten for the last three years on vacations, at restaurants, friend’s houses, airports, church, etc… all of the self-control, careful planning, extra cooking, limiting and annoyance to others was wasted. Which I realize is not the case. But it’s how I felt.

So, I have avoided talking about it. Fortunately, Joshua is still a champion sleeper and isn’t vomiting. He naps well during the day and doesn’t need to be held constantly, although we do wear him often. I am thankful that he doesn’t seem to be too uncomfortable, although we do find him trying to scratch his face often, as the rash has started to aggressively peel. This time around, I know that this too shall pass and as long as I follow a protocol that works to kill yeast, all will be good.

Fun fact: most eczema and cradle cap is actually due to yeast overgrowth. And most people have some sort of yeast overgrowth in their intestines due to the highly refined nature of our diets, abundance of sugar and overstressed lifestyles.

Thankfully I am healthier and stronger this time around. I know to give myself grace and be patient with my feelings. Also, Allan is home to help me out when I need it. Which is the only reason that I haven’t slipped back into postpartum depression, as I have suffered after both of my previous pregnancies. Having a postpartum support system is of utmost importance and I am so glad that we listened to the Lord’s urging that Allan should take this time off, because those in my normal postpartum support system have all had major life changes in the last few weeks and I would have been left to fight alone. But I will write more about that another day.

For today I’m just trying to focus on taking it one day at a time. Breathing deeply and drinking lots of water.